"Okay, since you know these three people, let Li Ruolian send someone to invite these three people back."
"Oh, by the way, after finding Xu Guangqi, ask him if he can invite his teacher Matteo Ricci to come with him."
"By the way, I want to ask them if they know there is a person named...Tang who also has a relatively deep research on firearms. If you know, please come back as well."
When Chongzhen talked about soup, his voice was a little hesitant. He was not sure whether this person was from the Ming Dynasty or a foreigner, but he vaguely remembered that there was such an outstanding person.
After Wang Chengen left, Chongzhen's fingers tapped the armrest of the dragon chair regularly.
Whether it is forming cavalry or researching firearms, this requires a lot of silver.
The twelve million taels copied by the eunuchs may seem like a lot, but there are more places to spend money, so it is not enough.
"Wait a minute. After Jin Yiwei finishes rectifying the situation, he will go and confiscate the eight major Shanxi merchants, and then we can talk about making money."
Chongzhen had many ideas about making money. During the past few months, he had been thinking about it every day.
After his calculations, if the operation is good, Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue will be at least 100 million taels of silver a year.
Commercial taxes such as salt tax, tea tax, wine tax, deed tax, and shipping tax can reach more than 50 million taels a year.
Agricultural taxes can also reach 50 million taels, which looks like a lot, but is actually not much.
Most of the land is in the hands of the gentry and clan, and these people need not pay. Even so, the Ming Dynasty's annual agricultural tax can reach about 26 million.
If the fields held by the clan gentry were released, the agricultural tax could at least be doubled.
After he finished training the new army, he was ready to find the right gentry and clan to operate.
Either pay taxes or pay land, choose one of the two, if you don't choose either, then go to hell.
Chongzhen was also much more relaxed with the replacement of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Cabinet.
But he did not act as a treasurer. Instead, he personally reviewed 10% of the memorials sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies every day, thus eliminating the possibility of the Supervisor of Ceremonies interfering with his power.
On this day, Chongzhen was taking Queen Zhou to barbecue in Kunning Palace. Wang Chengen came to report that Lu Xiangsheng had arrived.
When he was full and arrived at Dongnuan Pavilion, Chongzhen met Lu Xiangsheng, the founder of the Tianxiong Army who would become famous a few years later.
"The famous magistrate Lu Xiangsheng is here to see your majesty!"
Seeing Chongzhen come in, Lu Xiangsheng immediately knelt down and saluted.
Chongzhen looked at Lu Xiangsheng, and it turned out that he was indeed as recorded in history. He had a handsome face, fair complexion, and his arms were above his knees. He was very thin but felt very tall. This feeling was very contradictory.
Chongzhen looked at Lu Xiangsheng for a quarter of an hour before speaking out: "Lu Xiangsheng, do you know your guilt?"
Lu Xiangsheng, who was kneeling on the ground, was shaken all over: "I am guilty!"
"What crime was committed?"
"I... I, I committed... I committed..."
Lu Xiangsheng was confused. How could he know what crime he had committed.
When he was a magistrate in a daimyo, suddenly a royal guard came to tell him that the emperor wanted to see him.
Along the way, he had been thinking about what the emperor would do with a fourth-grade prefect like himself.
But no matter how hard he thought about it, he never imagined that the emperor would actually ask himself for guilt.
He thought that as an official, he would be honest and benefit the village. Although Daming Mansion could not avoid picking up lost items on the road, at least there were very few thefts and fights.
"Lu Xiangsheng, there are five dangers for the general. Do you know what the five dangers are?"
A question was asked to Lu Xiangsheng again. He had just asked himself if he was guilty, but now he was asking himself the art of war. What kind of trouble is the emperor going to make?
"Your Majesty, the five dangers of the general come from "The Art of War: Nine Changes" by Sun Tzu, so there are five dangers in the general: he must die and can be killed; he must live and can be captured; he is angry and can be insulted; he is honest and can be humiliated; he loves the people and can be troubled. .
If any of these five are exceeded, it will lead to military disaster. To overthrow the army and kill the general, there will be five dangers, so we must pay attention to them. "
Chongzhen was very satisfied with Lu Xiangsheng's fluent answers, but he still said in a deep voice: "I heard that you led a few soldiers to kill a group of bandits that even the officers and soldiers could not do anything about some time ago, right?"
Without waiting for Lu Xiangsheng's answer, Chongzhen shouted angrily: "Since you know the art of war, why would you do such a thing? Are you showing your bravery and martial arts skills? Or are you just greedy for merit?
Aren't you afraid that the soldiers who followed you will die in the hands of bandits?
Killing the robbers can certainly inspire the people and soldiers of Daming Mansion and restore peace to Daming Mansion, but as the chief official of a mansion, you have to be responsible for tens of thousands of people in the same mansion.
If you fall into the trap of robbers and are killed, and these robbers attack Daming Mansion, what will happen to Daming Mansion?
If you die and the people assigned by the court fail to arrive, or if a corrupt official is assigned, what will happen to the people of Daming Mansion? "
"I know that I am guilty, please punish me!"
Only now did Lu Xiangsheng realize that the emperor had just asked him whether he knew the crime. It turned out that he had committed the first of the five dangers of being a general - he must die and can be killed.
If you are brave but have no plans and only know how to fight to the death, you may be trapped and killed by the enemy;
But he was also full of doubts. He was a civil servant and did not go to the battlefield. The five dangers of being a general had nothing to do with him, right?
Besides, he is a fourth-grade prefect. Even if he is wrong, he is still the provincial envoy. Is the emperor so free?
Although Chongzhen couldn't see Lu Xiangsheng's expression at the moment, he could guess the doubts in his heart.
It was not that he was deliberately looking for trouble, but that he was deliberately beating Lu Xiangsheng to prepare for the future.
According to historical records, Lu Xiangsheng took the lead in every battle and fought with the rebels at close range.
During a battle in the third year of Chongzhen's reign, a bandit shot his servant to death with an arrow on the cliff. As a result, Lu Xiangsheng raised his sword and chased after him.
There are so many things, even when the reinforcements are cut off at the end, the general Hu Dawei wants to lead him to break the siege. As a result, this guy rushes into the formation with four arrows and three blades in his body, and marries his country heroically.
As a general, what he does is tactics, battles, and strategies. As the commander-in-chief of an army, what he wants to do is to control the overall situation rather than being ruthless and aggressive. He is responsible for tens of thousands of soldiers.
When the leader of an army dies in battle, it has a huge impact on the morale of the soldiers, especially for a person with a very charismatic personality like Lu Xiangsheng. Once he dies in battle, the entire army will surely collapse.
He didn't want this kind of tragedy to happen in the future, which was why Chongzhen took this opportunity to strike.
"Get up and talk!"
After Lu Xiangsheng stood up, Chongzhen continued: "I heard that you became the prefect and practiced martial arts hard every day. Is it true?"
"Your Majesty, yes!"
"You really want to join the military? Do you know how cruel fighting in the army is? Although you are superb in martial arts, how many can you kill among tens of thousands of soldiers? Aren't you afraid of death?"
"The slaves invaded and killed me, the great Ming Dynasty son. How can I sit in the back and live in peace?
Even if I had the dream of turning Daming Mansion into yours, it would be dashed when the slaves invaded.
Compared with tens of thousands of soldiers, I am like a firefly and a bright moon, but if I can kill one of them, I am confident that with my martial arts, it will not be a problem to kill a hundred or so. This is enough. "
"presumptuous!"
Chongzhen's heart moved, and he slapped Long An fiercely: "There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Jinning Defense Line. Are you so dismissive of the Jinning Defense Line?"
